It’s not that I’m overly private, not particularly; it’s simply that, right from the first page, I’m in trouble. Only, I don’t know it. My best friends, the Priyas (a nickname we gave ourselves as children), are a constant distraction. The return of Kader Thornton, the love of my life, the one who got away, isn’t helping me focus on what’s happening right in front of me, either. It takes the death of someone close to me to focus attention on the dangers waiting for me.

That sounds very ominous.

Between my company, my family, Kader, and the Priyas, I have resources—plenty of them. But digging for truth in a city where secrets act as currency, and money is the source of all power, is dangerous business. You’d think I would know this already, having lived in Washington, D.C., all of my life. I didn’t, not to the full extent, not until the night I disappeared.

Wow.... you totally have my attention with that!

Ava, let me ask you a few questions.

We all want to be different, so what is the one thing you wish your creator had done differently with you?

I wish Ashley had made my life as smooth on the inside as it appears on the outside. If you gave me only a passing glance, you’d think, “Well, Ava Arden has always had it easy.” In some ways, I have. Happy childhood, amazing friends, great education, travel, running own my company.

I feel a but coming on....

But love? Love is never easy. Never simple.

That is very true, it's not.

People I know always expect me to be good at it, at love, because I’m talented in business, or because my family is active in our community, or because I’m always out on the social scene. Don’t be fooled. I am stricken with fear at the thought of forever. Ashley knew this – I couldn’t hide it from her – and she used it to put me through my paces on the road to Happily Ever After.

Ava if you could have added something to the story, and your creator would have let you, what would that have been?

This one is easy. I would have made myself a composite of all the Priyas. I would have had Bonner’s moonbeam blond hair, Cary's unrelenting discipline, Devon’s grace under pressure, Eden’s ability to forgive, Fallon’s power over the media, Helaina’s army of unsurpassed chefs and hot waiters, India’s… Well, you get the idea.

lol... Yeah I think I do.

Instead, I have knees that tremble around Kader Thornton. I’m tall and a little clumsy. I have absolutely no fashion sense, I can’t cook and, somehow, I ended up tangled in the tightly woven web of deceit we call politics.

Oh, politics can seriously be a downfall!

Ashley says that a person’s life can only ever become as good as it has ever been bad. She forced me to stand toe-to-toe, eyeball-to-eyeball with betrayal. It was horrible; I’ve never felt such pain. She knows that only the ugliest of roads lead to Paradise. She said to me, right at the beginning, "You can walk or I can pull you." I took every step myself. It might have something to do with the fact that, at the end of chapter one, Kader Thornton steps back into my view.

What do you love best about yourself? What do you like least?

Least? I might be a touch more vain than Ashley imagined me to be. Least. Okay… I would say it is my unwillingness to admit when I am wrong. I just don’t ever want to be wrong, not about anything important. Too often, I’ll hold onto hope or give someone the benefit of the doubt until I am pressed so hard against a wall that even my breath leaves an imprint.

That is a pretty potent statement.

What do I like best about myself? That question is much harder. Do I have any lifelines left, Stacy? Can I phone a friend?

lol... nope.. this one is all you!

Just kidding. So, it would be this: I’m trustworthy. Only the love of my family, and the love of the Priyas, matters more to me in this world than being worthy of a person's trust. Although, I suppose those are two sides of the same coin, love and trust.

That is a great think to like about yourself!

What part of the book was the hardest for you and your creator to work through?

You think I’m going to say dangling from that cliff…but I’m not. The hardest part was remembering how to give and receive love—Kader's, in particular—without conditions or suspicions.

Ashley is so certain that when a person reaches the end of the book, the last page proclaims: You have reached Happily Ever After. Me? Not so much. I needed a lot of convincing just to consider the possibility of Happily Ever After. We went a few rounds over Kader Thornton’s role in my life, Ashley and I did. In fact, our “tug-of-war” plays out over the pages of the book.

A tug-of-war over a man! Love it!

Is there a sequel for this book? If so, what do you want to accomplish in the next book.

In AVA, I’m not just telling my story, I’m the opening book in the story of the Priyas. Bonner is up next, and I’m relieved to turn things over to her. She’s a journalist, and she’s very picky about how I phrase everything. She’s also in love with my brother, Locke, and has been since…forever. Talk about complicated! She’ll have the chance to tell you, herself, in BONNER, coming in 2012.

That sounds great - I look forward to it!

I do have to say that the hardest part about being AVA, the first book in the Priya series, is that I know everything that is going to happen. I know what is coming for my best friends, even when they don’t. There will be chapters in their lives—in all of our lives—that I wish I could delete from Ashley’s hard drive. But I cannot.

That would be hard, knowing all of that.

Pain, hardship, even sadness, these are essential components of a happy life. Sounds a little backwards, I know, but it is true. We’re a feisty, fun-loving, curious, romantically challenged lot, the Priyas. Between us, we’ve got a wine-maker (Jilla), a songbird born to a legendary artist (Lyric), an A-List Hollywood star (Westyn), an artist whose paintings will steal your tears (Paige), a… Well, each Priya is eager to tell her own story, so I’ll stop dropping hints about their lives and simply tell you, dear reader, that I hope we meet again on the pages of AVA.

Ava - what a pleasure it has been to have your join us! I am personally looking forward to reading your life story and learning more about the Priyas. Thank you so much for coming!

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